


Falling in Love in a Comic Book Shop

by sarelo28



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Bisexual Jace Wayland, First Meetings, Human AU, M/M, Pansexual Simon Lewis, Simon Lewis - Freeform, Slow Burn, Strangers to Lovers, eventually, i'll add tags as i go, jace wanders in one day, jace wayland - Freeform, jimon, simon works in a comic book shop
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-21
Updated: 2018-05-27
Packaged: 2019-04-25 16:51:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14382915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarelo28/pseuds/sarelo28
Summary: Jace has some time to kill so he wanders into a comic shop where he meets Simon.





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic ever, so let me know what you think and if it's worth continuing! Otherwise just talk to me about comics or Jimon. That's cool too.

_Dammit Izzy._

Jace stood on the sidewalk outside of the café staring at his phone. Izzy is running 30 minutes late. Jace exhales sharply. He’s contemplating whether or not he should just go inside and get a table, but he thinks better of it. He’d rather not sit alone in a café for 30 minutes. He puts his phone back in his pocket and starts walking up the street, looking for a store he can wander around in to kill some time. He makes it almost half a block when he stops in front of Hot Comics. 

Comics aren’t really his thing, but it’s not a big deal. As long as he can look around for 30 minutes without getting harassed by the sale’s staff he can’t complain. Jace hears a bell sound as he steps through the door.

“Welcome to Hot Comics,” says the girl standing behind the counter without so much as looking up from the comic she’s flipping through. Jace grunts in response as he heads to the sidewall where the new release, single issues are displayed. 

He’s standing with his hands shoved in his jean pockets trying to look as if he has the slightest interest in what he’s looking at when a guy with wavy, brown hair and tortoise shell glasses appears in his peripheral vision. 

“Hey man! Can I help you find something? You’ve been standing in the same place for a while and I thought to myself, ‘This guy isn’t really sure what he’s looking for so why not go over and recommend some of my favorite comics,’ you know? The new issue of _Black Hammer_ just came in and it’s such an underappreciated series, so anytime I can recommend it, I do. Same with _Descender_. Basically I just really like Jeff Lemire” He finishes with a wide, goofy smile. Jace stares at the over-eager employee with his mouth slightly agape. He definitely zoned out somewhere in the middle of the employee’s spiel when he noticed how beautiful the guy is and then he was speaking with so much passion that Jace couldn’t focus on the actual words being said. 

The employee’s smile starts to slip as Jace continues to stand there dumbfounded. It probably takes Jace a little too long to remember that people expect you to respond when they say something to you. “Oh. Uh-yeah, thanks. I was just looking really. I’m kind of new to comics,” Jace said, running his hand through his blonde hair while he ducked his head in embarrassment. 

“That’s cool! Like I said, I’m partial to Jeff Lemire, but _Saga_ seems to be where a lot of comic book newbies start. It’s pretty well known because the art is INSANE,” the employee gestured wildly with his hands, “and the story is so good. It’s like an epic space saga about forbidden love and what you would do to protect the ones you love – so good.”

“Yeah. Maybe I’ll start with that then? Whatever you think. Uhhh…” Jace looked at the employee’s nametag, “….Simon.”

“I’m going to say Saga then because it’s basically universally adored. Plus there are eight volumes out already in case you get really into it which I guarantee you, you will,” Simon said with a smile. “Follow me.”

Simon gestured to Jace to follow him as he headed to the back of the store where the floor to ceiling bookcases are. Simon stops in front of one of the large bookcases and runs his finger along the spines until he pulls out _Saga, Volume 1_ and hands it to Jace.

“Thanks.” Jace said as he flipped through the comic. “You’re right. The art does look pretty great. Damn.”

“You’re welcome. If you like it, let me know next time you stop by. It’s always fun to hear people theorize about where they think a series is going to go. Especially when I know where it’s going, you know?” Simon replied.

Jace laughed. “Yeah, that makes sense. I’ll definitely do that. I mean, you did guarantee earlier that I would like it, so I’m going in with pretty high expectations,” he said with a smirk.

A blush crept up Simon’s neck and settled on his cheeks. “I did, didn’t I?” He chuckled as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Jace thought he found Simon attractive before, but seeing him flustered from some very mild teasing increased his attraction ten-fold. Jace got the vibe that Simon didn’t realize how attractive he is in his skinny jeans and plaid shirt rolled up to his elbows. 

Just as Jace started to open his mouth to reply, his phone went off. “Sorry,” he mumbled, reaching into his back pocket; Izzy’s face popped up on the screen, but he sent the call to voicemail. “I’m actually supposed to meet my sister for lunch, so I’ve got to go, but I will definitely be back to spout off some theories if I like it or to give you a hard time if I don’t.”

Simon smiled. “Definitely to spout off theories then. I’m here way more than I should be, so I’m sure I’ll be around.”

“See you around Simon,” Jace said as he walked towards the front of the store to the cash register. When he got to the register he set the comic down on the counter and pulled out his wallet.

“$11.75.” the cashier said as she scanned the comic and slid it into a brown, paper bag. As Jace was sliding his card, Simon appeared at his side. “I just realized that even though I talked way too much, I never got your name. In case-I mean-for when you come back in. Asking someone’s name is kind of etiquette 101, but sometimes I forget how to human I guess,” he finished with a chuckle.

“It’s Jace,” Jace said as he slid his card back into his wallet and then tucked his wallet back into his pocket.

“Jace.” Simon said his name as if trying it out. “Okay cool. Well. Until next time then.”

“Yeah. Until next time.” Jace picked up his bag, pretending he didn’t see the look that the cashier made in Simon’s direction. He tucked his bag firmly under his arm and pushed his way out of the store and back onto the street. Once outside, he took a deep breath and exhaled slowly while shaking his head. 

He took out his phone and shot Izzy a quick text. Now he was going to be the one late for lunch.


	2. chapter two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> alright so there isn't necessarily jimon exactly, but we get to see Jace and Izzy talk about Jace's first encounter with Simon

Jace stepped into the café with the brown, paper bag still under his arm. His eyes scanned the room looking for Izzy. His mouth broke into a smile as his eyes finally landed on his sister waving him over to the table.

“Where’ve you been?” Izzy asked as Jace placed his bag down on the table and pulled out the chair. “Hot Comics, huh? Since when do you read comics?”

“Since now I guess. Had to find a way to kill time since someone was late,” Jace replied with a smirk.

“Whatever Jace. I have a hard time believing that you were simply browsing in a comic book store for over 30 minutes, so…spill”

A light blush appeared on Jace’s cheeks. He cleared his throat. “Well I was just trying to kill time, but there was a very cute guy working there so I kind of panicked and ended up buying something and I wanted an excuse to go back.”

“Ohhhh a cute guy!! That’s so exciting! It’s not often that you’re enamored with someone and don’t try and tell me that you’re not because I can see you blushing. Details please!”

“Izzy. Calm down. It’s not-“ Jace stopped mid-sentence as the waitress with fire-red hair approached their table.

“Hey you two! Welcome to Shadowhunters Café. I’m Clary and I’ll be serving you today. What can I get for you?” She said with what appeared to be genuine enthusiasm.

“I would love a cheeseburger and fries. I’m starving.” Izzy smiled as she handed her menu to Clary. “And I’m okay with just water.”

“I’ll have the skirt steak kale salad. I’m good with water too.” Jace handed his menu to Clary and then turned back to face Izzy when he noticed she was beaming at their waitress.

“I’ll get that put in, thanks! Let me know if you need anything else.” And with that Clary had turned and went towards the kitchen, but before she disappeared behind the kitchen door, she looked back over her shoulder for one more glance.

Izzy was still looking at the door that Clary just disappeared behind when Jace loudly cleared his throat. “Iz. You still with me?”

Her head whipped back around to meet Jace’s eyes, “Yeah, sorry. Not to be overdramatic, but she may be the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen. Don’t think that that’s going to get you out of telling me about the cute comic book store guy though.”

“Alright, fine. His name is Simon. He’s what you would call ‘nerd hot’ and when he started talking about comics he was just so passionate that I couldn’t even focus on what he was saying. I was just staring at his goofy smile. He said I should come back and let him know what I think of this comic,” Jace said as he tapped the bag still sitting on the table, “but I don’t want to show up tomorrow and seem too over-eager, you know?”

“It’s not like you’re talking about a 500 page book Jace – it’s a comic. You could read it in one sitting and if you love it, why not go back in tomorrow? I think it would just make you seem excited about something that Simon is clearly passionate about.”

Clary reappeared at their table with their food in her hands. “Here’s your cheeseburger with fries,” she said as she placed the dish in front of Izzy, “and your skirt steak kale salad,” she said as she slid Jace’s lunch in front of him. “Enjoy! And of course let me know if I can get you anything else.”

Jace and Izzy ate their lunch in a comfortable silence, paid (with a generous tip courtesy of Izzy), and went back to their apartments.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jace set his keys down on his counter as he toed off his boots. He lived in a modest one-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn which he was really proud of. He hadn’t expected to take on so many clients so quickly when he became a personal trainer, but as soon as he realized that it would be a steady enough stream of income, he moved out of the place he had with his siblings and into his own place. Jace loves his family, but he was overjoyed to have something that was so completely his.

He sighed as he sat down on the couch with his new comic. “Alright. No pressure Saga but you’re my in with a cute comic book store employee,” he mumbled to himself as he opened the volume and started to read.

An hour later, Jace closed the comic book, gently set it down, and just stared blankly at the wall. After staring at the wall for a good twenty minutes, mulling over what he just read, Jace went into his bedroom, stripped off his clothes and laid down in bed. He thought about going back to Hot Comics in the morning and chatting with Simon about Saga. As he started to doze off, he smiled.


End file.
